Dr. Abdiweli Gaas surprised many with
his victory as the new president of the regional government of Puntland. There
was a general perception among many that the incumbent Abdirahman Farole would be
re-elected. Gaas won by a single vote. As he said immediately after his
election, the work has already begun. Villa Somalia, the seat of the Somali
presidency in Mogadishu, welcomed the new Puntland president. The exuberance by
President Hassan S. Mohamoud might though be short-lived. Gaas may surprise
many with the way he will lead his administration and regarding his relations
with Villa Somalia.
Gaas ran for the Somali
presidency in 2012 and lost. In the last round of the election, he supported
the current president, Mohamoud, against Gaas’ old boss, the incumbent
President Shaikh Sharif Ahmed. Mohamoud had promised the position of premier to
Gaas, if the former won, as part of horse-trading. It turned out Mohamoud had
made similar promises to others including Ahmed I. Samatar. Then, after Mohamoud
was elected, he gave an interview to Voice of America pleading to “his friends”
not to get angry with him if he did not choose them as prime minister. His
statement raised an obvious question: To how many of his friends had he
promised the position of next prime minister?
Then, a month ago, according to a
source, President Mohamoud told Gaas that he had reserved the position of the
prime minister, which had become vacant after the ousting of A. F. Shirdon, for
the latter’s clan.
Now, things have changed between
Gaas and Mohamoud. While Gaas is president of a regional government, he is, in
all practical senses, a co-equal of Mohamoud. Mohamoud favored Gaas over his
rival, Farole. However, the dynamics of their relationship have changed for the
following:
1. Gaas’
first and foremost responsibility now is to the people of Puntland, not
Mogadishu. That means he should focus on
the interests and development of Puntland. Each president has his own
constituency. While the two can cooperate on national issues, Gaas is unlikely
to kowtow to Mogadishu. President
Mohamoud is not popular in Puntland because he has twice failed to appoint a Puntlander
as the premier. Gaas will have to balance between his working relationship with
Villa Somalia and his job as the head of Puntland.
2. Gaas
may have to be extra careful in dealing with President Mohamoud. First, Mohamoud
has a history of equivocation and breaking promises. Second, he has shown to
the world that he is a dictator. It is either his way or the highway. His
hoarding of power in Mogadishu is palpable. There is fear by some that
Mohamoud’s goal is to make Puntland a puppet regional government that he is
only interested in extracting its resources. Corruption, after all, has been
the culture of Mogadishu. The recent meltdown in the Central Bank is a good
example of the allegations of corruption. The UN Monitoring Group report on
Somalia has accused the regime in Mogadishu of widespread corruption. The bank,
according to the report, has become a “slush fund” for regime officials.
3. Moreover,
the regime in Mogadishu has lost its luster and is now viewed by donor nations
as hopelessly incompetent. The Western donors are leery of trusting Mohamoud
with the $2.5 billion donated to Somalia a year ago. Gaas has an excellent
relationship with many in the international community. He can tap some of these
needed funds to help develop Puntland and make it a strong viable regional
government in Somalia. A strong Puntland is not only good for Puntlnaders but also
to the rest of the country. A weak
Puntland government, on the other hand, is a burden on the nation. Unlike
Somaliland, Puntland has never attempted to secede from the union.
4. Being
one of the architects of the Roadmap, Gaas is in a position to positively
influence the amending of the provisional constitution and future power sharing
arrangements with the federal government. Unfortunately, there is no strong federal
government based in Mogadishu. Mohamoud is unable to exert his control on many
parts of south Somalia. It might be wise for Gaas to give the regime in
Mogadishu time to get its house in order.
Gaas was once a prime minister of
Somalia and, in his short stint, had accomplished a lot. Now that he is the
president of Puntland, he will have more room to implement his political,
economic and social program. He is,
after all, the big fish in Puntland.
Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel was President
Obama’s first chief of staff. He decided to quit his job and run for mayor of
Chicago. After winning that position, he started implementing his political,
social, educational and economic program in the city. Some time ago, he was
talking to his predecessor, Richard Daley. Rahm looked at Daley and said,
“Rich, you lied to me. You told me this was a good job. It is actually a great
job. If I had known how great, I would have [ran against] you.”
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